THESE daunting photos of a massive Huntsman spider have been taking the internet by storm – and are terrifying arachnophobes everywhere.
The colossal creature, pictured crawling across a broom, was snapped by workers on an animal rescue farm, in Queensland, Australia.
5 These pictures of a colossal huntsman spider crawling across a broom were taken on an animal rescue farm, in Queensland, AustraliaCredit: arnyard Betty’s Rescue / Facebook
5 A brave worker snapped herself getting up close with the creature and shared it online, sending arachnophobes around the world into a frenzyCredit: arnyard Betty’s Rescue / Facebook
The snaps, taken in October last year, recently resurfaced on the internet and have since gone viral.
In the original post, the woman who found the spider wrote: “And here’s me meeting one of the neighbours.
“I don’t just rescue farm animals luckily for this magnificent girl!
“Can you believe someone wanted to kill this amazing creature!”
The unfazed worker can be seen in the photos getting up close and personal with the beefy-looking bug – to the horror of many viewing the snap online.
One Facebook user wrote: “Why In HOLY HELL would you touch this horrible f*****g demon spawn!?!”
Another said: “This is actually what my nightmares are made of.”
And another joked: “It’s going to eat the barnyard.”
But the gargantuan arachnid was given the cutesy name of Charlotte by the woman who found her at Barnyard Betty’s Rescue in Brisbane Valley.
She said the spider is one of the biggest she had seen, explaining that it was “not at all normal for huntsman to get this big”.
5 The gargantuan arachnid was dubbed Charlotte by the woman who found herCredit: arnyard Betty’s Rescue / Facebook
Reposting the pictures last night, she wrote: “She is a huntsman spider and we are located in Queensland, Australia, and yes she is very real and very large and not photo shopped!!
“I released her here on the farm after rescuing her so I can’t get any more photos or video of her, I’m sorry.
“She was a beautiful, calm spider, not aggressive in any way and like most spiders she just wanted to go about her business eating bugs and living in peace.
“She didn’t or doesn’t need to be killed! Poor spiders are so misunderstood!
“All creatures great and small are welcome here at Barnyard Betty’s Rescue a safe haven no matter how you look!”
5 Last month footage emerged of another huntsman in the same part of Australia carrying a dead mouse up a wallCredit: Facebook
5 Huntsman spiders measure up to 15cm across the legs but are largely harmless to humansCredit: Facebook
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Jason Womal, from Mackay, captured the footage at a neighbour’s house as he was leaving for work on Sunday morning.
Huntsman spiders are large, long-legged spiders, measuring up to 15cm across the legs.
Many have flattened bodies adapted for living in narrow spaces under loose bark or inside rock crevices.
But despite their massive size and lightning speed, they are largely harmless to humans.